| September 24, 1789 1 Stat. 73 |
The Judiciary Act of 1789 organized Pennsylvania as one judicial district and authorized one judgeship for the U.S. district court. The act assigned the District of Pennsylvania to the Middle Circuit. | |
| February 13, 1801 2 Stat. 89 |
The Judiciary Act of 1801 reorganized the federal courts into six circuits and assigned the District of Pennsylvania to the Third Circuit. | |
| March 8, 1802 2 Stat. 132 |
The repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801 restored the judicial organization in effect before 1801. | |
| April 29, 1802 2 Stat. 156 |
Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1802 again organized the federal courts into six circuits and assigned the District of Pennsylvania to the Third Circuit. | |
| April 20, 1818 3 Stat. 462 |
Congress divided Pennsylvania into two judicial districts, the Eastern and the Western, with one judgeship authorized for each. The judge of the District of Pennsylvania was assigned to the Eastern District. The district court in the Western District was granted the same jurisdiction as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which were to be the jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. | |
| May 15, 1820 3 Stat. 598 |
The act provided that appeals and writs of error from decisions in the district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, when exercising the powers of a circuit court, would be the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, rather than the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. | |
| March 3, 1837 5 Stat. 176 |
The act established a U.S. circuit court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the district court for the Western District, except when the district court met in Williamsport. | |
| March 3, 1843 5 Stat. 628 |
The act repealed the authority of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania meeting in Williamsport to exercise power and jurisdiction of a circuit court, and provided for a session of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Western District to meet in Williamsport. | |
| March 2, 1901 31 Stat. 880 |
The act established the Middle District and authorized one judgeship for the district court. | |
| April 1, 1904 33 Stat. 155 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. | |
| February 26, 1909 35 Stat. 656 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Western District. | |
| February 16, 1914 38 Stat. 283 |
One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. This position was never made permanent. | |
| September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837 |
One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern and one temporary for the Western District. The position for the Eastern District was never made permanent. | |
| March 3, 1927 44 Stat. 1347 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. | |
| February 28, 1929 45 Stat. 1344 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Middle District. | |
| August 19, 1935 49 Stat. 659 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1922 for the Western District was made permanent. | |
| June 16, 1936 49 Stat. 1523 |
One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. | |
| June 2, 1938 52 Stat. 780 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1936 for the Eastern District made permanent. | |
| May 24, 1940 54 Stat. 219 |
One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. | |
| December 7, 1944 58 Stat. 796 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1940 for the Eastern District made permanent. | |
| July 24, 1946 60 Stat. 654 |
Temporary judgeship authorized to serve all three districts. | |
| August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Eastern District and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Western District. | |
| August 29, 1950 64 Stat. 562 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1949 for the Western District made permanent. | |
| February 10, 1954 68 Stat. 8 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. One additional permanent judgeship and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Western District. The act provided that the temporary judgeship serving all three districts would be made permanent and assigned exclusively to the Middle District upon the first vacancy in that district. | |
| May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 |
Three additional judgeships authorized for the Eastern District, one additional for the Middle District, two additional for the Western District, and the temporary judgeship authorized in 1954 for the Western District was made permanent. | |
| March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75 |
Three temporary judgeships authorized for the Eastern District. One of these positions was never made permanent. | |
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 |
Six additional judgeships authorized plus two temporaries made permanent in the Eastern District, one temporary authorized for the Middle District, and two additional judgeships authorized for the Western District. The temporary position authorized for the Middle District was never made permanent. | |
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Middle District. | |
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 |
Three additional judgeships authorized for the Eastern District, one for the Middle District and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. (Statutory provision authorizing temporary judgeship in Eastern District revised by 109 Stat. 635.) | |